Before you tee off
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ROUGH LUCK
Golf is serious. This isn't.
HOW WE PLAY
Everyone plays their own ball, even if you team up. You each spin before the first hole, then after holes 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15. Use your prompt once within the next three holes. Count shots and penalties as usual, except for free moves. If you’re using someone’s prompt against them, tell them before they start their swing. Keep it moving and don’t wreck the course.
ROUGH LUCK Nice lie while it lasted. Another golfer can move your ball into nearby rough before a shot, even from the green.
FOOT WEDGE The fifteenth club in the bag. Give your ball one free kick whenever you like, green included. Play it where it finishes.
HIT IT, HAPPY Show us your best Happy Gilmore: one tee shot with a running start. Choose the hole before teeing off. Let’s see it, athlete.
GIVE IT A LITTLE TAP Tee off with your putter, or take a normal tee shot, hitting three. Choose the hole before teeing off. Not our problem if your putter breaks.
CADDY HACK Someone else picks your club for one shot, even a putt. They call it before your swing. You have to use it. Let it happen. Be the ball.
7-IRON, HUH? The only truly safe club in the bag. Use only your 7-iron from tee to cup, putting included. Choose the hole before teeing off.
GIMME THAT Swap tee-shot positions with another golfer before either of you plays a second shot. Keep your own ball. One swap per player per hole.
LIFE’S A BEACH Another golfer can send your ball to the nearest bunker before a shot, even from the green. Let’s be honest, you could use the practice.
JUST THROW IT We know you’re struggling. Go ahead and take one free throw, but use your non-dominant hand. Play it from there.
Have a question?
Each spin covers the next three holes: 1 to 3, then 4 to 6, and so on. Use your prompt once in that block. For Hit It, Happy; Give It a Little Tap; and 7-Iron, Huh?, choose the hole before teeing off. If you haven’t used that challenge on the first two holes, you play it on the third.
You choose when to use your kick, throw or swap, and which hole to play the tee-off challenges. Another golfer chooses when to use Rough Luck, Caddy Hack or Life’s a Beach against you. They have to tell you before your swing starts.
For Rough Luck, use nearby rough, the longer grass around the fairway or green. The new spot can’t be nearer the hole. For Life’s a Beach, use the nearest bunker, or sand trap. Leave the ball somewhere you can actually hit it. Either prompt can move your ball off the green.
No. Your Foot Wedge kick, Just Throw It throw, Gimme That swap and the moves for Rough Luck and Life’s a Beach are free. You can use kicks and throws on the putting green, too. Play from where the ball finishes and count your normal shots and penalties from there.
For Give It a Little Tap, a putter tee shot counts as stroke one. Your next shot is two. Choose a normal tee shot instead and add two penalty strokes: the tee shot counts as three, and your next shot is four. Choose your option before teeing off.
It’s a swap of tee-shot positions. A regular gimme is a putt your group counts as holed without playing it. For this prompt, keep your own ball and trade spots before either player’s second shot. Your score, penalties and prompt stay yours. Each player can take part in only one swap per hole, even if someone else chooses them.
Teams work as long as everyone plays their own ball and follows their own prompt. Keep your usual team score. If you’re choosing one ball for the team to play from, use our Rough Luck Scramble rules.
Yes. Keep your usual scoring. Gross counts all your shots and penalties; net takes off the handicap strokes you get on that hole. The prompts work with either.
Use your group’s usual house rules and settle them before teeing off. A gimme counts as one putt without playing it. Picking up means stopping before you hole out and recording the score your group agreed on. A max score caps what you record for a hole. If the course won’t allow a challenge, play normally and keep moving.